Pakistan train hijack: 21 passengers dead; Army says all 33 militants killed

Twenty-one passengers and four paramilitary soldiers were killed by militants holding hostages after seizing control of a train in Balochistan, an Army general said on Wednesday (March 12).

Army spokesman Lt Gen Ahmad Sharif told Dunya News TV that security forces killed all 33 militants present at the scene.

"The armed forces successfully concluded the operation in the (Wednesday) evening by killing all terrorists and rescuing other passengers safely,” Lt Gen Sharif said.

He said that 21 passengers were killed by the terrorists when they attacked the train on Tuesday. He added that four paramilitary Frontier Corps soldiers were also killed in the incident.

The Jaffar Express, carrying 440 passengers in nine coaches, was going from Quetta to Peshawar when militants derailed it using explosives and hijacked it near the mountainous terrain of Gudalar and Piru Kunri in a tunnel 160 kilometres from Quetta.

The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) claimed responsibility for the attack on Tuesday when they said they killed six soldiers.

Terrorists form small groups to escape

Earlier, it was reported that the terrorists had formed small groups to try to escape in the dark, but the security forces had surrounded the tunnel.

Rana Muhammad Dilawar, district police officer in the area where the train was stopped, told the media that security forces had surrounded the area, but there were reports that the militants had taken some women and children as hostages.

There were around four to five government officials on the train, he added.

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Train stopped in tunnel

The Jaffar Express, carrying around 400 passengers in nine bogies, was travelling from Quetta to Peshawar when armed men intercepted it in a tunnel near the mountainous terrain of Gudalar and Piru Kunri on Tuesday afternoon.

The BLA later claimed responsibility for the attack.

Though the authorities did not give too many details, Balochistan government spokesperson Shahid Rind said the security forces, including military troops, had reached the rough terrain where the tunnel was located shortly after railway authorities were alerted to the train being stopped in the tunnel.

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Emergency desks in Peshawar, Quetta

The Pakistan media reported intense firing and explosion near the tunnel, where the militants hijacked the train. Rind said that they had dispatched rescue teams.

Pakistan Railways have set up emergency desks at the Peshawar and Quetta railway stations as frantic relatives and friends try to get some information about their loved ones on the train.

Pakistan Railways had resumed train services to Peshawar from Quetta after a suspension of more than a month and a half.

Second major attack in 4 months

Tariq Mahmood, a senior official of Peshawar Railway Station, said that people should not pay heed to rumours on social media and otherwise.

In November last year, a suicide bomber killed 26 people and injured 62 others at the Quetta railway station after which several services were suspended by the Railways.

(With agency inputs)